Business of Law

For the American Bar Association’s 2017 annual meeting this weekend — its first in New York City in almost a decade — the organization will for the first time ever open up its legal education programs to nonmembers, an initiative meant to give attendants a taste of some of the benefits that come with participation in the ABA, the organization’s president told Law360.

Sedgwick LLP has seen 78 attorneys exit the firm, at least 29 of whom were partners, since the start of the year, precipitating the shuttering or downsizing of a number of the San Francisco-based firm's offices.

Law firms often fail to consistently deliver the services that in-house legal departments depend on, with a single attorney or group sometimes exceeding expectations only to watch as others disappoint. Here, experts offer five ways firms can become more consistent and better serve their clients.

Women make up half of all law school graduates and have done so for over two decades — but they’re still woefully underrepresented when it comes to appearing and speaking in court, a problem experts say can stymie their careers and prevent professional advancement. Here, Law360 looks at some things that are being done by law firms, judges and clients to help close the gender gap in litigation.

For the American Bar Association’s 2017 annual meeting this weekend — its first in New York City in almost a decade — the organization will for the first time ever open up its legal education programs to nonmembers, an initiative meant to give attendants a taste of some of the benefits that come with participation in the ABA, the organization’s president told Law360.

Sedgwick LLP has seen 78 attorneys exit the firm, at least 29 of whom were partners, since the start of the year, precipitating the shuttering or downsizing of a number of the San Francisco-based firm's offices.

Law firms often fail to consistently deliver the services that in-house legal departments depend on, with a single attorney or group sometimes exceeding expectations only to watch as others disappoint. Here, experts offer five ways firms can become more consistent and better serve their clients.

Women make up half of all law school graduates and have done so for over two decades — but they’re still woefully underrepresented when it comes to appearing and speaking in court, a problem experts say can stymie their careers and prevent professional advancement. Here, Law360 looks at some things that are being done by law firms, judges and clients to help close the gender gap in litigation.

The speculation over which law firm would be able to entice former Solicitor General Paul Clement to join its ranks has ended. Clement, who left his post in June and took up teaching at Georgetown University Law Center, has now returned to his former firm King & Spalding LLP.

Nonequity partners in the nation's law firms may be in for a rocky ride in the months ahead as management moves them up or out in a continued effort to weather the economic downturn, legal experts say.

The slumping economy claimed more victims at prestigious law firms Wednesday and Thursday as Brown Rudnick LLP and Squire Sanders & Dempsey LLP announced layoffs of more than 50 attorneys and paralegals and 20 support staff.

Political experts and politicians alike said Wednesday that, while likely attorney general nominee Eric Holder's controversial role in the Clinton-era pardon of a convicted financier whose wife gave money to Democrats might cause political fireworks, it was unlikely to derail a confirmation.

Women attorneys at the largest U.S. law firms continue to earn less than their male counterparts at every stage of practice and are markedly underrepresented in the leadership ranks, according to a survey published Monday by the National Association of Women Lawyers.

Bracing for a sharp decline in profits, partners at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP are reportedly planning to vote for the firm’s managing partner and former chairman to step down from the management committee.

Washington trial lawyer Gregory B. Craig, who represented President Clinton during his impeachment proceedings and currently practices at Williams & Connolly LLP, reportedly will serve as White House Counsel under President-elect Barack Obama when he takes office.

Law firms prospered in 2007, but the good times are over - at least for now - according to legal management consulting firm Altman Weil Inc., which surveys law firms on a yearly basis on issues including revenue, expenses, billing and compensation.

The nation's 250 largest law firms expanded their lawyer rolls less in 2008 than in 2007, signaling that the legal industry has not been immune to the economic slump and some belt-tightening is already taking place, according to a report published Monday.

In the latest pickup to follow the dissolution of Heller Ehrman LLP, McDermott Will & Emery announced Monday it would move its Silicon Valley branch into Heller's former office space in Menlo Park, Calif.

America's next president has promised to shift direction substantially across several areas of U.S. policy, but the ripple effect of change to the Office of the Solicitor General is likely to be more nuanced, legal observers said.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal from defunct accounting firm Arthur Andersen to decide whether a litigant that hasn't signed onto an arbitration agreement can appeal a federal court order refusing to stay the litigation pending arbitration.